How to Make an On-Demand Medicine Delivery App Like 1mg?

The pandemic brought a huge change in the field of online medical services. Pharmacy apps became quite popular during the pandemic-induced lockdown all over the world. With so many Covid 19 cases, people chose to buy medicines online to reduce the risk of contagion. Because of this, pharmacy apps like 1mg have seen a 50% rise in the number of daily active users. This increased the development, progress, and popularity of online pharmacy app development. The demand for the development of apps like 1mg has gone up exponentially. But before you employ any Mobile app development services in India, you should have basic knowledge about how the 1mg clone app works. If you want to build an online pharmacy app like 1mg, then read on to find out more about app features, benefits, and cost of development.

Popularity and Business Model of 1mg like app

People were using pharmacy apps even before the pandemic, but they became more popular in the last 2 years. 1mg pharmacy app allowed people to order medicines from the comfort and safety of their homes. According to statistics, the Indian e-pharmacy market is going to grow at a rate of 12.5% between 2020-2027. This has increased the demand for online medical stores.

Business Models to consider before building a pharmacy app

While building a pharmacy mobile app, it is important to understand and choose the right business model. 

1. Inventory Model –

Most pharmacy apps, including 1mg, adhere to an inventory-based model. In an inventory-based model, the firm keeps an inventory or stock of medicines. Depending on the areas and regions they serve, these stocks are stored in nearby warehouses and delivered to the customers on receipt of the order.

2. Medicine Delivery App for Aggregator

In this model, instead of an inventory, the app owners tie-up with local drug stores in multiple areas. Once a user places an order in the app, the e-pharmacy checks for the product’s availability in the drugstore nearest to the customer and redirects the request to the same. The local chemist then completes the chain by manually delivering the medicines to the user. 

How Does an Online Pharmacy App Work? 

Before building the app, you must have an idea about the basic functions of the app. Do you know the exact process of any online pharmacy app? Well, there are few important aspects of every online pharmacy app. Let’s go through the key points. 

1. Registration 

The first thing an app does is to ask the user to input basic information like name, address, contact information, and drugs consumed daily by the user. This helps the website to collect user information for a better user experience. 

2. Upload Prescription 

After registration, the user needs to upload a prescription of the medicines they require. The prescription is then verified by the pharmacy to see if it’s available or not. After verification, the user can choose which medicines they want and place their order. Not every medicine order requires a prescription. You can order medicine online easily with a simple process. 

3. Delivery 

Once the order is placed, the delivery process starts. Based on your business model you can deliver the medicines to the user’s location. Choosing address, putting multiple addresses and automatic location detection are some features that complete the Delivery aspect. 

4. Payment 

Every online pharmacy app provides various modes of payment to its users. To simplify the payment process, there is every kind of method available. Using Apps, Credit and Debit Cards, Wallet based accounts, Cash on Delivery are some of the most popular methods. 

Reading Recommended- How to Make a Medical Website for Health Professionals?

Features of an Online Pharmacy App

User Panel

• User Profile Creation – This allows the app to collect basic information about users and helps in storing data and lets the user log in securely. The logging process can be completed through Email ID, Mobile Number, or other verified identity resources. 

• Quick search – Users can easily search for required medicine through a quick search option. Search recommendations using Machine learning algorithms make the process quicker. 

• Details about Medicine – Users should be able to see all the details of the prescribed drug. This includes prices, composition, and the name of the manufacturer. Giving more details generates trust and satisfies the user’s curiosity. 

• Substitute Suggestions – The app should provide suggestions if the required medicine is out of stock. But, users should verify the different medicines from their doctor. 

• Product comparisons – Users should be able to compare different medicines to choose a better substitute.

• Upload Prescription – Directly uploading the prescription, instead of typing the name of every medicine saves time for users.

• In-app Payment – In-app payment is very useful in the current time. It decreases contact between the customer and delivery person.

• Track the Order – With the use of GPS, today, it had become easy to give users real-time updates about the location of the product. 

• Pop-Up and SMS Notifications – Keeping the user informed about the availability of required medicines, telling them about New Offers and Discounts become easy with Notifications. 

• Cancellation feature – Users should be able to cancel or return a product in case they receive a malfunctioned product. There should be a refund policy in case the payment has already been made. 

• Dose reminder – This feature is much appreciated by users. It allows users to set reminders to take their medicines. 

• Multi-platform support – 1mg clone of online pharmacy should be versatile and operable on different platforms like android, iOS/iPhone, and the web. 

• Feedback  – User reviews and opinions help the website to improve user experience and gain the trust of real people. Positive feedback can increase the number of sales from a platform. 

Admin Panel

• Login  – Just like users, Admin should also be able to log in securely and be able to change their passwords whenever needed. Admin can also manage users and see analytics in the dashboard. 

• Customer Support – There is a different customer support dashboard in the Admin Panel. Here, they can assign their team to handle the queries and report back. 

• Order management – Details about the inventory, storage capacity, and new orders are here. This helps the business owners to stay updated on the medicines needed to get in stock quickly. 

• Supplier management – Lists all the suppliers you have tied up with including name, address, contact number, past orders. 

• Price management – Allows admins to provide discounts and offers to customers, based on market demand and supply trends.

• Notification – The admin team should receive notifications related to inventory, feedback, and orders.

• Complaint management – Allows the admins to easily see and manage all the complaints made by users.

Medicinal Panel

• Login –  This feature allows Pharmacists/retailers/ store staff to log in securely.

• Prescription checking –  A pharmacist should be able to check the prescription uploaded by users to verify if they have all the medicines or not. This also allows them to suggest other substitutes.

• Order Management – This feature helps the store staff to manage orders, returns, and refunds. It also lets the store check if the order has been delivered or not.

• Billing – Allows the store staff to easily bill each order.

• Shipment and delivery – After the order is ready for dispatch, the staff assigns it to a partnered courier service and updates details like name of courier service/delivery boy, tracking number, distance, the weight of the package.

• Contact Admin – This allows the store to contact the admins for any query. It’s necessary to enable a support system for the vendors. 

Delivery Panel 

• Login – The delivery panel should have all the necessary information of the driver like name, contact information, address, etc for the record.

• Notifications – The delivery person should receive a notification when a new order needs to be delivered.

• Route Tracking – This helps the driver to easily reach the customer’s location. 

• Quick communication with customers – Enables the driver to contact the customers easily.

• Delivery status – Allows the delivery person to set the delivery status of each order as delivered, delayed, and denied at delivery.

• Feedback – Allows the delivery person to receive feedback on their performance after each order.

Advanced Features of Medicine Delivery Mobile App

The best online medicine app should also provide advanced features to its users to make the app more convenient. To stand out in the competitive market and after the pandemic, having features that are unique, modern, and futuristic can help you beat the competition. Let’s go through some of the features which you can use in your online pharmacy app – 

• In-app Consultations – A good online pharmacy app can allow its users to book an appointment with doctors or get connected with an expert immediately. Sounds cool? Yes, it is. There are many medicines that can’t be ordered without a prescription, therefore, having this feature helps the user to get it done. 

• Lab Test Bookings – You can provide users with the option to schedule lab tests or diagnostic checkups at a better price through your app. Adding this feature is going to help you in building the best medicine app.

• Multi-Language Support – This would help make your app universal. Add features like multi-currency and multi-weight unit converters to make your app convenient for users from all over the world.

• Local Store Search – Sometimes a customer might need to visit a drug store to understand how to use a product or buy a medicine urgently. This feature will help them to search for stores nearby.

• Chatbot Support – Almost every app or website provides chatbot support nowadays. This enables users to get in touch with customer support immediately. The AI-enabled Chatbots are much more advanced than in the last 5 years. Understanding the customer’s sentiment and replying with context is incredible and engaging. 

Steps to Create an App Like 1Mg

1. Study Other Apps –

The first step to build a similar app like 1mg is to study the features of the 1Mg app. Study the services it offers. Look for customer reviews or comments about the app. This will help you find out if 1MG is missing out on something the customer needs. It is important to know what’s available in the market and what needs to be delivered. Start by defining who your end users are and what they expect from the app. Plan according to what your user needs and define a solution that would satisfy the end-user.

2. Build a Rough Layout and Structure

After making a thorough plan, start building a rough layout of your app. Analyze the type of business model you are using and the features you want in your app. Discuss your plan with a technical team and design experts who will help you build a medicine delivery app. 

3. Build a Prototype 

Many app developers are releasing a prototype version of their app to a small batch of customers for testing purposes.  This allows them to get feedback and see what type of response the app will receive after launch. By doing this, you can get crucial feedback, which saves time and cost and helps you make a better app for your users.

4. Attractive UI and Back-end Development

Making the interface user-friendly and attractive is an important part of developing an app. Use the latest UX/UI trends to build a user-friendly interface. Backend development is a crucial part of the development process. Hire a dedicated mobile app developer for this step of the process.

5. Data Protection Regulations-

Data security is important in every On-Demand medicine delivery app. As this app deals with sensitive information, like payment credentials, it must comply with the data protection rules and norms of the region it is catering to.

6. Monetization

Many on-demand delivery apps earn profit by monetizing the app. This can be done by charging users for premium services or displaying ads on your application. You also use in-app purchases and gamification to monetize your app. 

7. Testing and maintenance

Testing every app is crucial to see if it is working properly. You should thoroughly test your product to fix bugs, frequent crashing, long loading time, and technical glitches. You should also hire experts to maintain and constantly update your applications if you want to perform medicine delivery like 1 mg.

Technology to Build the App

To create an app like 1mg, you should advance technologies like python, and Angular. 1mg used advanced technology like micro-services-based architecture and Python and Ruby on rails for building services. You can use the same technology stack to build a clone of 1mg or you can hire an app developer and discuss the tech stack with them.

How Much Cost to Develop an App Like 1mg

The next most important thing to consider is the cost to develop an on-demand medicine delivery app like 1mg. Just like any other app, it depends on several factors. The cost will depend on the complexity and features of your app. Some important factors that affect the cost of development are-

• The number of platforms you will release the app on.
• Tech Stack for the app.
• Cost of hiring a development team.
• Features of the application.
• App design- the more complex the design, the more it’ll cost.
• The location and size of the development team will also affect the cost of development.

To give you an approximate idea, the cost for developing an app is approx $10000 for a single platform. The hybrid app which works on both platforms costs around $25000. 

Read Also- How to Create an Online E-Pharmacy Store?

Conclusion –

Now that people have become accustomed to buying medicines online, the trend will only increase. The growing demand is only encouraging people to step into the business of online pharmacy. With so many businesses starting their own pharmacy apps, you need to be the top mobile app developer to get the best product for yourself. 

But the even better option is to hire an android app development company that has developed a similar app like 1mg already. With their experience and your demand having the same objective, you can get a perfect app developed within a quick timeline. Though, choosing a company that is trustable and authentic has a process. Checking the brand presence and their portfolio will help you decide on a company quicker. Maven Cluster is one such company with Industry’s Top Mobile App Developers and experts. With over a team of 100+ people, they have got experience, creativity, and innovation in one place. Deemed to be the best Mobile App development company in India, they have built hundreds of successful apps. Their custom mobile app development services are rated 5/5 in most of the reputed review platforms. 

The development process at Maven Cluster has inclusiveness of Industry experts and consultants. Delivering the results of the high standard with the most affordable packages is what has led Maven Cluster to be in the good books of clients. Do you have any queries about the process of the development of an app like 1mg?

Don’t worry then, Maven Cluster also provides consultation before you invest in your project. You have control!